Happy Sunday Everyone:
Anyone who lives in the bay area knows the winds have been insane this past week. Middle of the night sounded like your house was going to come unhinged. Friday morning, I decided to go for a run. I’m sure many of you have experienced it, some days feel better than others and I was feeling great. Wyclef Pandora playing, I feel like I’m flying, literally thinking I might go further than normal, I might sign up for a 1/2 marathon (I swear this is going through my head), lost a few pounds, this is what it feels like, congratulations to myself for hitting on all cylinders, top of the world. I’ve gone far enough, I turn around and boooom….wind hits me straight in the face, hair goes up, my pace dropped a ton and I felt like a sloth running into the wind. I’m smiling, laughing at myself. It honestly didn’t dawn on me that I had the wind at my back the whole way out. It dawned on me real quick that I had the wind in my face when I turned around.
I love cliches, I know I’ve said this many of times, but I do, they exist for a reason. To recognize when you’re experiencing one firsthand, in the present moment, is impactful. Hard to explain but I found myself running back contemplating so many things. I figured I’d share a few today.
- You don’t feel the wind at your back nearly as much as you feel the wind on your face. Why is that? I literally didn’t feel the wind from behind me, I just thought I was moving great. If you had asked me, I’d have told you the wind died down until I turned around. Relating to our business, me crushing 2020 and 2021, might have had to a little to do with rates being at 3% vs. my individual skill. Appreciate the tailwinds, but don’t give yourself too much credit when you’re in them.
- Tailwinds can make you soft. When I turned around my headspace went from “I’m crushing this” to “oh crap”. Had there been no wind, it would have been just part of the run to turn and head back. A rate at 3% is a tailwind, a rate at 5-6% is no wind, a rate at 7-8% is a headwind. Our industry got softer with rates dropping to 3% vs. had they stayed at 5-6%. We went from appreciation to expectation.
- Appreciate the headwinds. I was trying to find something on the physics of this and first thing that came up was “running against a headwind can improve strength and endurance”. I know this is a “DUH” but when you’re actually physically running into a headwind like I was, and I was present enough to think about what I was doing, I was appreciating the headwind more than I was the tailwind, my head space went from crap to appreciating and understanding the extra effort. Take that to our industry right now and it creates a better mindset for me. My daily job is hard right now. My competitors are dropping like flies. I’m appreciating the headwinds. I’m present enough to understand this and I know the wind will shift at some point.
- Headwinds keep you present. Hard to explain but since my run I’m viewing crap situations a little differently. I was listening to a podcast w/ Ed Mylet interviewing Deon Sanders (Coach Prime). He said he loved his haters because he wouldn’t know what love was without hate. I’d say the same thing with headwinds. They’re the punch in the face we all need. They make us stronger, physically, and mentally. If headwinds make you stronger when you’re in them, and keep you present enough to appreciate the tailwinds…well that’s a win win.
I’m going to venture to say of all the runs I’ve ever been on, this is the most impactful one I’ve had and it’s all because of the headwind. For the rest of my life, I will have a greater appreciation for the headwinds.